We recently connected with Karen Vargas and have shared our conversation below.

Karen, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

My hero is, and has always been, my mom. She has been my rock and role model growing up. As a child, I admired her for her strength; as an adult, I now see so much further than her incredible strength. I see her resilience and her relentless attitude to be grateful for what we have at any given time. S

She was the first one to help me believe in something bigger for my future. She was the one who always taught me that so long as you work hard, there is nothing that cannot be accomplished. I am grateful for the gift of confidence she instilled in me. Looking back, I see how so many of my biggest life accomplishments have her teachings written all over them.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was first introduced to photography in 2017 when I wanted to capture stories of the marginalized in our community. I sought this craft as a way to show value and beauty to the everyday person we may come across at a coffee shop. This outlook naturally led me to lots and lots of portrait sessions where over the years discovered I true love were couple sessions.

When my business doors officially opened in 2020 I was determined to find the good in the midst of a scary and stressful time, so I did just that. I focused all my time on connecting with expecting couples, new dating couples, and couples who were too much in love and couldn’t wait to get married, even if that meant having a 40-person backyard wedding instead of a grand party.

Over the years my focus has been to be a source of help for all my couples and dedicate our time together entirely on them and who they are. I am proud of that mission. In the world of photography and wedding services, I have come to learn that not everyone has that focus and it deeply impacts the love poured into our clients.

Helping clients as a photographer can mean so many things, and I find pleasure in it all. Whether a client busted their dress zipper and needs security pins to get through the shoot, or whether they need to be known in order to be fully comfortable in front of the camera for the first time I perform all tasks this craft requires with the utmost pleasure.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The life of a business owner is not for the weak. Especially when you didn’t have any savings to start up. Over the years I had to make tough choices like selling my one and only car in order to afford my first professional camera and lens. That moment was wild, and only the first.

Another one was when two months into being full-time time I had to drive 1.5 hours to the session location only to find the fire had reached that site. I had to guide my client to another spot right away and felt like a terrible photographer, even though the fire was out of my control. I was on the verge of tears because I desperately needed the money from that session to pump gas in my car and buy groceries. I had also not counted on the extra miles it would now take to shoot this session and get paid. I was praying my car would make it to the session spot.
I felt so scared and defeated, but thankfully the session went well and the client even tipped me. That was my first tip as a photographer and that couple never knew how important that tip was. Thanks to that I was able to get some groceries and pump gas in my car to get home.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn was Sales. The way I had learned about sales used to make me feel icky. I never saw myself selling anything because I felt ashamed and scammy at the thought of it. Then along came my business.

You see, I was taught that sales were about money, about meeting goals, about having the highest number and keeping an upward trajectory every month. Getting to discover sales and marketing on my own terms allowed me to see that sales is seeing a problem and giving a solution. Sales is answering a need through your own gift and passion.

When I sell photo sessions, for example, I am providing a very curated, thought-out, and artistic solution to couples who need a maternity, or wedding day captured in a way they cannot do themselves. So it then becomes my job and mission to help them hold on to the beautiful lifelong memories they envision. I get to help people hold on to memories forever. I get to enter people’s lives for a day or an hour, take a photo of a mom and daughter, and see that it later becomes the last really good picture the daughter will ever have of them two together. I get to take that photo that married couples show their children and grandchildren and feel inspired to recreate later on.

It’s about finding your why, and loving your reason.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.karenvargasphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenvargasphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenVargasPhotography/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/karen-vargas-photography-clovis